Why does Jesus want us to be like little children?In the book of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. This question showed the wrong heart attitude. In response, “Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.’” (Matthew 18, verses 2, 4, 5, NLT; verse 3 NIV)Little children are generally sincere in heart and typically have some natural qualities that are pleasing to God and Jesus. These nice qualities can potentially fade as we get older, so it’s important to cultivate them. To “cultivate” means to take special care in order to make something develop or grow, like flowers or vegetables in a garden. People spend a lot of time and effort in their gardens because they want to grow lovely or useful things. It’s the same with our characters – if we want to “grow” a beautiful character, we must spend time and effort working at it.Little children are trusting. Little children trust their parents and depend on them to provide what they need to grow up in a healthy way. Likewise, we can depend on God because He is reliable and wants what’s best for us. His word is true and trustworthy. When God promises something, He makes it happen! In Isaiah (55:11, NLT) God says, “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”Little children are humble. Nowadays, it seems like people want to brag about themselves or their accomplishments, especially on social media. But Jesus was never prideful like that. If we want to copy his humble character, there’s no room for pride! James says, “…God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, NLT)Little children are teachable. Children go to school to learn the information they’ll need to contribute to the world in a positive way. Part of being teachable is realizing that others know more than we do, and then listening carefully to learn the right lessons. God’s word, the Bible, contains lessons, too! We can study the lives of the people of the Bible and learn from their examples – especially Jesus. Psalm says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NLT)So, why did Jesus want us to be like little children? Because little children tend to have some natural qualities that God and Jesus appreciate, like trust, humility and teachability. No matter how old we are, we should try to cultivate these qualities so we can share in God’s future kingdom!
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
